Elektra 513
Producer: Queen/Mack
Track listing: Play the Game / Dragon Attack / Another One Bites the Dust / Need Your Loving Tonight / Crazy Little Thing Called Love / Rock It (Prime Jive) / Don’t Try Suicide / Sail Away Sweet Sister / Coming Soon / Save Me / Dragon Attack
September 20, 1980
5 weeks
“It was very much a period of change,” drummer Roger Taylor says of the months in 1979 and 1980 that Queen devoted to working The Game, their eighth studio album and first to top the American album chart.
After forming in 1971 in England, the band, fronted by the flamboyant vocalist Freddie Mercury, became known for its mix of glam, melodic hard rock, and complex vocal harmonies. Queen’s first hit single was “Killer Queen” from the band’s third album, 1974’s Sheer Heart Attack, but their commercial breakthrough came a year later with the aptly titled A Night at the Opera and the top 10 single “Bohemian Rhapsody.” That song, a mini-opera in itself, would become a hit again 17 year later, thanks to its inclusion on the Wayne’s World soundtrack.
Two albums and a few hit singles followed A Night at the Opera, including “We Are the Champions” from News of the World, which climbed to number three. But by 1978’s Jazz, Queen was desperately searching for something new. “We felt Jazz was not one of our finest hours,” admits Taylor. “It had its moments, but on the whole, it was rather unsatisfying.”
To shake things up, the group decided to record at Musicland Studios in Munich, Germany, although the band had its own studio in Montreaux, Switzerland. They also enlisted the aid of a new producer, simply known as Mack. “We had explored that sort of multi-layered, very complex harmony thing, we wanted to do something stripped-down and basic, but it was still quite eclectic,” Taylor says.
The first track recorded for the album was a rockabilly-flavored number penned by Mercury, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.” Since guitarist Brian May wasn’t present for the first session, Mercury, Taylor, and bassist John Deacon recorded the basic track as a trio. “Freddie wrote it in the bath,” Taylor recalls. “Since it was just the three of us, he said, ‘I’ll play rhythm [guitar],’ I threw the drums up in the corner, and John played bass. We had this backing track that sounded and felt great.” May would later overdub some tasty leads to the track, which was first released as a single in the U.K. in late 1979 and began receiving airplay on American radio stations. On February 23, 1980, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” went to Number One in the States, while Queen was still working on The Game. “There we were with a Number One in America and no album,” recalls Taylor.
Some of the other tracks on The Game, including “Another One Bites the Dust,” which would also top the Hot 100, and “Dragon Attack,” were inspired by the Munich nightlife. “We never even considered doing a dance-styled track before,” Taylor says. “Being in a different place did stimulate us. We were very much influenced by what was going on in the clubs. A lot of that was assimilated and put into the record.”
THE TOP FIVE
Week of September 20, 1980
1. The Game, Queen
2. Hold Out, Jackson Browne
3. Diana, Diana Ross
4. Emotional Rescue, The Rolling Stones
5. Panorama, The Cars